Chapter 6 - The Girl Who Knew Too MuchI stared at Nia's photograph until Marta gently took my phone.
“Don't respond.”
“She's alive.”
“We don't know when the photograph was taken.”
I felt sick.
Nia had trusted me.
She had risked her job to send me evidence.
And now somebody was using her as a threat.
Marta forwarded the message to Detective Reed.
Within an hour, investigators confirmed that the photograph had been taken recently.
Nia's car had appeared on traffic cameras near a highway outside Worcester.
Then it vanished.
I spent that night staring at the hospital ceiling.
Every time I closed my eyes, I imagined her alone in a parking lot.
At six the next morning, Lena found me awake.
“You haven't slept.”
“Can't.”
She sat beside me.
“Any news?”
“No.”
Lena adjusted my blanket.
“You're recovering from a serious injury, Evelyn. You need rest.”
I looked at her.
“You remember sophomore year?”
She smiled faintly.
“When you threatened to sue the landlord because our apartment had no heat?”
“He fixed it.”
“You wrote a six-page letter.”
“Seven.”
Lena laughed softly.
Then her smile faded.
“You used to believe every problem had an answer if you worked hard enough.”
I looked toward the window.
“Some problems do.”
“And some require other people.”
I nodded.
“I know.”
For once, I meant it.
At nine fifteen, Detective Reed called.
They had found Nia.
She was alive.
She had been hiding at her older sister's apartment.
The threatening photograph had been taken before she managed to leave the area.
Nia had refused to return home after Grant threatened her.
Her sister convinced her to contact an attorney, who arranged for her to speak with investigators.
I cried when Reed told me.
Not from relief alone.
From exhaustion.
From fear.
From finally learning that one more person Daniel tried to frighten had escaped him.
“Can I speak to her?”
“Not yet. She's giving a statement.”
“Is she safe?”
“We're taking precautions.”
I thanked Reed.
Then I called Marta.
“Tell Nia's attorney that if she needs financial assistance, I want to help through the proper channels.”
Marta paused.
“Let's discuss it with her lawyer so nothing interferes with the investigation.”
“Okay.”
“And Evelyn?”
“Yes?”
“I'm proud of you for asking instead of trying to handle everything yourself.”
I almost smiled.
That afternoon, Nia's statement changed the investigation.
She had discovered that Harbor Light Holdings was only one company in a network.
Grant had created several entities with similar names.
Some appeared to have no employees.
Others submitted invoices to Wrenbridge for services that couldn't be verified.
Daniel approved payments.
A senior executive at Wrenbridge signed off on them.
And Vivian helped move money between related accounts.
The most disturbing discovery concerned an affordable senior housing development.
Two hundred elderly residents had been promised apartments.
Some had already paid deposits.
Others had sold their previous homes in anticipation of moving.
Construction was months behind schedule.
The project was running out of money.
And while families waited for housing, Daniel had purchased a vacation property using funds traced through one of the suspicious companies.
I recognized one of the residents on Nia's list.
Rosa Alvarez.
Seventy-eight years old.
A former school cafeteria worker.
She had been one of my father's closest friends.
When he died, she brought a casserole to our house every Sunday for a month.
Daniel always complained afterward.
“She smells like cafeteria food.”
I used to tell him to stop.
Eventually, I stopped inviting Rosa over.
Now her retirement savings were trapped in the project Daniel had helped drain.
I asked Marta to arrange a call.
Rosa answered on the third ring.
“Evelyn?”
“Hi, Rosa.”
“Oh, sweetheart.”
Her voice broke.
“I heard about what happened.”
“I'm okay.”
“No, you're not.”
I swallowed.
“I'm getting better.”
She was quiet for a moment.
Then she asked, “Did Daniel really do those things?”
I closed my eyes.
“Yes.”
Rosa sighed.
“Your father loved that boy.”
“I know.”
“He said Daniel made you smile again.”
Tears slid down my cheeks.
“I know.”
Rosa hesitated.
“Honey, there's something I never told you.”
My heart tightened.
“What?”
“Your father came to see me a week before he died.”
“Why?”
“He was worried about Daniel.”
I sat up.
“What did he say?”
“That he had found something in the foundation's accounts.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“My father knew?”
“He didn't know everything. He said he was checking.”
“Did he tell you what he found?”
“He mentioned a company.”
I gripped the phone.
“What company?”
“Harbor Light.”
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
My father had died almost four years earlier.
Harbor Light Holdings had been formed much later.
Unless there was an earlier company.
Unless someone had been using the same scheme for years.
Rosa continued.
“He left me a letter. Said if anything ever happened to him, I should make sure you got it.”
I stared at the wall.
“Rosa, why didn't you tell me?”
“I tried, sweetheart.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“I gave the letter to Daniel.”
The room went silent.
“He told me he'd bring it home to you.”
I closed my eyes.
Rosa started crying.
“I thought I was helping.”
I whispered, “You didn't know.”
There was a long pause.
Then Rosa said something that changed everything.
“Your father told me one more thing.”
“What?”
“He said if Daniel ever tried to take your trust, you should look at the house.”
I frowned.
“What house?”
“The one he gave you when you were little.”
My breath caught.
The small lake house in Vermont.
The property Daniel had insisted we sell.
The house I had refused to let go.
I looked toward Marta.
Then I whispered into the phone.
“Rosa, did my father say why?”
“Yes.”
May you like
She paused.
“He said the truth was hidden beneath the floor.”
Related Stories
